The XML path language (XPATH) is a query language that can be used to select nodes from an extensible mark-up language (XML) document, and can be used to compute values (e.g., strings, numbers, or Boolean values) from content of an XML document. The XPATH language is based on a tree representation of the XML document, and provides the ability to navigate around the tree, selecting nodes by a variety of criteria. XML data is organized as a hierarchical, finite tree, where XML names are associated with XML objects. This is not the case for business data. The inner organization of the data of business objects may be neither hierarchical nor finite, because loops can occur. Further, output provided by XPATH is less flexible than desired. For example, XPATH statements are designed to filter the original, available data. Accordingly, XPATH is not readily applicable for analyzing business object data in desired manners.